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Anyone having gastric sleeve surgery in the Tampa Bay area during March or April?



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Wondering if there is anyone having the gastric sleeve in the Tampa Bay area during March or April.

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Well, I pray that my surgery will be in March. I feel that I've met my 3 month diet with my primary who's been trying to help me for over a year. I've met with the surgeon, he asked me to get a chest X-ray and blood work, which I finished today and my psych evaluation is next Friday!

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My surgery is March 10th. Im a couple hours southeast of Tampa.

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I'm in Tampa! I have my consult this Friday so I'm hoping to have a date within the next couple of weeks. Congrats on your date/surgery!

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Woo! Tampa! I live South of Tampa, still considered Tampa Bay Area. I am scheduled for March 14th but unfortunately my health insurance has a bariatric exclusion which has led me to have surgery in Mexico.

Are you going to the Florida Hospital in Tampa? I went to a seminar there to see what the self pay option looked like stateside, and he seemed like an experienced and knowledgeable doctor. In any case, good luck on your journey! :)

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Hi, I hope to find out my date soon. I have a tentative date of March 16. for the sleeve. I live in Pinellas County- Tarpon Springs Area. I can't wait... Having surgery at Mease Dunedin

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Woo! Tampa! I live South of Tampa, still considered Tampa Bay Area. I am scheduled for March 14th but unfortunately my health insurance has a bariatric exclusion which has led me to have surgery in Mexico.

Are you going to the Florida Hospital in Tampa? I went to a seminar there to see what the self pay option looked like stateside, and he seemed like an experienced and knowledgeable doctor. In any case, good luck on your journey! :)

Thank you. I will be having surgery on March 9 th in Tampa. Good luck to you also

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Where in Mexico are you having your surgery? Can you share the name of the physician in Mexico. My insurance has an exclusion also. Is pricing comparable to that here in the Tampa Bay area?

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I'm going to Dr Ramos Kelly & although he's not the cheapest in Mexico, he's fantastic. Definitely cheaper than here - I found $15-30k in Tampa, $5-8k w/ Dr Ramos Kelly (depending on your health, etc).

I know ooh_that_girl is going to a different Dr in Mexico that he's excited about - there's definitely great surgeons in Mexico, just definitely do your research :-)

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Where in Mexico are you having your surgery? Can you share the name of the physician in Mexico. My insurance has an exclusion also. Is pricing comparable to that here in the Tampa Bay area?

I'm going with Dr. Guillermo Alvarez with Endobariatrics and going to Mexico is definitely cheaper than stateside. You do have to keep in mind you will be keeping yourself accountable, whereas many stateside doctors have follow ups and resources to help keep you on track. I went to a seminar at Florida hospital in Tampa near USF for Dr. Dietrich and his self pay option was about $15,000 but that includes access to a nutritionist etc. Dr. Alvarez is about $8500 which includes the hotel prior to hospital stay, two full days in the hospital, and another night in a hotel by the air port. He's definitely not the cheapest in Mexico but he has many many positive reviews and a lot of experience (over 6,000 surgeries). He has even published a book on vsg. You have to figure out what's important to you and what you're comfortable with. At first I was very skeptical about going to Mexico but it's what has allowed me to afford the surgery and not put it off any longer.

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I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

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I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

Send me a friend request / message on Facebook if you want to be added to an awesome secret group for people being sleeved this spring :-) Alea Birbeck, same pic

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

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Hi,

I sent you a FB request.

Thanks

I live in Pinellas County. I am pre surgery but at the finish line. Just waiting for my date. Would love a support buddy to help get through this.

Send me a friend request / message on Facebook if you want to be added to an awesome secret group for people being sleeved this spring :-) Alea Birbeck, same pic

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

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    • LeighaTR

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    • Doughgurl

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      · 2 replies
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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